Federal Trade Commission
Protecting America's Consumers
Entertainment Ratings Guides
Movies, Video Games, Coin Operated Video Games, Music, Internet, Resources
Media ratings systems are a starting point for children and parents — one resource for information to help protect children from violence in movies, games and music.
Movies
Ratings appear in ads for films, movie listings and at theaters.
G |
PG |
PG-13 |
R |
NC-17 |
General audience |
Parental Guidance Suggested |
Parents Strongly Cautioned |
Restricted |
No one 17 and under admitted. |
| All ages admitted. | Some material may not be suitable for children. | Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. | Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. |
Rating descriptions sometimes are published in newspaper listings or movie reviews; you also can find them at theaters and at www.filmratings.com. Some descriptions you might see are:
Rated PG for mild language and violence.
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and a scene of violence.
Rated PG-13 for violence, including bloody aftermath of a shooting.
Rated R for language and strong bloody violence.
Rated R for strong graphic horror, violence and gore, and for language.
Video Games
Age-based ratings are on the front of video game packages, in ads, and on web sites.
EC |
E |
E10+ |
T |
M |
AO |
Early Childhood |
Everyone |
Everyone 10+ |
Teen |
Mature |
Adults Only |
| Content may be suitable for children age 3 and older. | Content may be suitable for those 6 and older; game may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, and/or infrequent use of mild language. | Content may be suitable for ages 10 and older; game may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. | Content may be suitable for ages 13 and older; game may contain violent , suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. | Content may be suitable for ages 17 and older; game may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. | Content suitable only for age 18 and older; game may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity. |
The Entertainment Software Rating Board also assigns content descriptors to video games. You will find these on the back of video game packages and at www.esrb.org. Some descriptors you might see are:
Animated Blood
Blood
Blood and Gore
Cartoon Violence
Comic Mischief
Fantasy Violence
Intense Violence
Mild Violence
Sexual Violence
Violence
Video game consoles generally include a parental control feature that allows parents to restrict children's access to games based on ESRB rating.
Coin Operated Video Games
A color-coded "traffic light" system advises players whether games have strong or mild violence, language, or sexual content.
YELLOW |
|||
Animated Violence Mild |
Life like Violence Mild |
Sexual content Mild |
Language Mild |
| Scenes of violence involving cartoon-like characters in combative activity with violent elements that do not result in bloodshed, serious injury, or death to characters. | Scenes of violence involving human-like characters in combative activity with violent elements that do not result in bloodshed, serious injury, or death to characters. | Contains sexually suggestive references or material. | Contains commonly used four-letter words. |
RED |
|||
Animated Violence Strong |
Life like Violence Strong |
Sexual content Strong |
Language Strong |
| Scenes of strong violence involving cartoon-like characters, which result in bloodshed, serious injury or death to characters. | Scenes of strong violence involving human-like characters, which result in bloodshed, serious injury or death to characters. | Contains graphic depictions of sexual behavior and/or the human body. | Contains strong four-letter expletives. |
Music
Some compact discs have labels that say "Parental Advisory - Explicit Content."
These labels indicate that the recording may contain strong language or expressions of violence, sex or substance abuse. Individual record companies provide these labels voluntarily. If you have questions, ask about the lyrics.
Internet
A word to parents about restricting access: Internet web browsers often contain tools for restricting children's access to particular types of content. Internet service providers also may allow parents to control access to content based on the child's age and to implement controls for chat, instant messaging, e-mail, newsgroups, and file downloads, including file-sharing. Parents even may install filtering software on their computers to block access to particular web sites or control the download of programs, music files, and movies. These tools are imperfect, however, and may not restrict all objectionable content or may restrict too much permissible content.
Resources
Motion Picture Association of America
Entertainment Software Rating Board
American Amusement Machine Association
GetNetWise
Recording Industry Association of America, Inc.
Federal Trade Commission
National Association of Attorneys General
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice
YWCA of the U.S.A.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.